Medicine Wheel Teaching
Medicine wheels have been in existence for centuries. The concept of the circle has been understood and lived in thousands of indigenous and ancient cultures. Most of these cultures had the knowing and understanding that the earth was and is circular.
Their oral traditions spoke of shamanic teachings and knowledge often in story form. The RBCS will share a story of the medicine wheel and this story connects us as human beings to the medicine wheel itself.
When we stand in our sacred energy bubble with our arms outstretched from our sides our left arm pointing to the east. In the east is the place of the rising sun, of new beginnings, the dawn of a new day, hope and the gift of illuminations and enlightenments of our life journey.
From this place looking to the west with our right arm pointed to the place of the setting sun, the time where in the darkness Mother Earth herself comes alive, her physical presence can be felt. The west is that time of going within with the gift of intuition and introspection in quiet of the nighttime where dreaming can be felt
Where our feet are as we stand on Mother Earth is the south and is where all the sacred waters of life end up even though they come from the sky. Water is mean’t to ebb and flow, and in our human bodies our own sacred waters flow and move. Our emotions are meant to be natural ebb and flow like the sacred waters and our heart is meant to experience these emotions. The sacred gift of the south is trust and innocence of trusting and knowing our own inner flow and emotions.
As we are stand in our sacred field of energy we look up and connect with the sky and the wind/air, this is the north. In our body our mind is connected to sky and the sacred winds because when we allow the flexibility of the wind in our mind we can flow with thought rather than getting caught in repetitive thoughts. The wind spirits cleanse our mind allowing us to be open and receptive in each and every moment. We are then able to receive the gift of wisdom and knowledge of life.
In the centre of the wheel of life is creation and the primal vibration that creates all of life. In our bodies our vibration and energy gives us life and our consciousness and soul can then guide our life journey and allow us to dream the dreams we are meant to dream.
The Medicine Wheel and its Gift
The medicine wheel introduces us or re-introduces to the notion that life is circular in nature and that our brain does not naturally store information in a chronological way rather it stores knowledge in a relational way. This is why when we have a thought that arises it sometimes comes with memory from the past associated with the memory that arose. Then we might have to “think” about the timing of when those memories happened. Circular knowledge in this way is how all the energies in a medicine wheel are related to all other energies. This also means that the energies on a medicine wheel are not hierarchal rather than interconnected. The directions are all needed to understand something. All medicine wheels have a relationship to each other. In other words, when you look at one direction of a medicine wheel and compare it to another medicine wheel in the same direction there is an energy relationship between each.
For example in the east of the medicine wheel the element is the sacred fires of life. The power of the east direction is illumination and enlightenment. They are both about light, with sacred fires of life more external, and illuminations and enlightenment light up and fire up our inner landscape.
Medicine wheels help us reconnect to the circular ways of life which in shamanism we call reality and it helps us to let go of the rigidity of linear thinking of beginning and endings. The medicine wheel reminds us the beginnings and endings continue to move in circles of energy reminding us that we as humans are a part of life itself.
